“Government hour” at State Duma on Domodedovo terrorist attack

The Russian State Duma has refused to hold a parliamentary “government
hour” in open session with the law-enforcement authorities. At the
meeting they talked about the terrorist attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo
airport, RIA Novosti reports.

The speaker of the State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, said that its council,
consisting of all factions, was requested to hold a closed session.
However, the deputies changed their mind on Tuesday and decided to
hold an open “government hour”.

The deputy head of the Just Russia Party, Gennady Gudkov, expressed
regret that information on the investigation was closed to the public.
He believes that measures against terrorism should be discussed
openly. Foreign experience should be observed in detail. Gudkov
believes that the “government hour” should have been attended by the
premier and vice-premier.

Anton Belyakov, a member of the left-central party Just Russia,
expressed support for Gudkov’s proposal. He says that citizens should
know about the measures the government is taking to prevent terrorism.

Alexander Kulikov, a member of the communist party, said that the
prime minister needs to present information on the preventative
measures.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Vice-Premier and leader of the
Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia, and Maxim Rokhmistrov, a member of
his faction, spoke about similar initiatives. They proposed that the
law-enforcers answer deputies’ questions at “government hour”, which
lasts 2.5 hours.

Only the opposition supported this initiative. 130 of 226 deputies
needed to vote for.

8 members of the law-enforcment authorities were invited to the
“government hour”, including the head of the Russian Federal Security
Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov, Interior Minister Rashid
Nurgaliyev, Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, head of the Investigation
Committee Alexander Bastrykin and Transport Minister Igor Levitin.

The blast at Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport on January 24
killed 36 and injured 180. A suicide-bomber activated an explosive
device filled with metal projectiles.